broken clavicle, bad heart, but still motivated



digibud

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Nov 29, 2010
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I'm 61yrs old. Three summers ago I weighed 285lb at 6' and could hardly walk 100 yards. I got back on my bike (with wife) and began to ride again. 30yrs ago we both road a lot. Not competitvely, but we did long distance touring and road daily. A few weeks ago I was diagnosed with 80% blockage in two heart arteries and 50% in a third. No stents were put in. I returned to riding with the admonishment I should pay attention to any heart pain and back off. We've been on spinning bikes in a group throughout the winter. I've dropped down to 225lb. Still overweight but last summer I did a 130mi solo with some serious hills. I ride with a HR monitor and push myself about as hard as I can. Then last week I took a spill and shattered my clavicle and broke three ribs. Doc says 2months of doing nothing with my left arm. I'm going to setup a mtn bike on a trainer outside using a time trial bar pointed vertically so I can hold it a bit with my right arm for balance. Maybe I'll get a bit of a fatter saddle. I'm still on percocet but I can't deal with the idea that I have to sit around and get fat again. I'm now on a vegan diet so perhaps getting fat fast is less an issue than having all my fitness atrophy. I have bad knees so I'm doubt I can run (my complaints can go on ... ) . If you have any tips for me in terms of just retaining as much cardio fitness as I can it would be greatly appreciated. I'll be back to the bike near the end of our very short summer. I don't expect to gain on my fitness...I just need to limit the damage as much as I can. thanks.
 
Well, I think the biggest impediment you'll face is breathing hard with the broken ribs, especially if breathing hard happens to induce any coughing. With that said, you can always do some walking. I'd also suggest talking to your doctor about getting some physical therapy. It's very possible that there are some passive exercises and treatments a physical therapist could do or help you with to reduce any loss of strength or tone in the arm on the affected side. Given your age and that bone loss might be a concern, you might want to talk to a doc about that and if there's anything that can done to speed the healing like taking Fosamax or summat. I've had orthopods suggest taking Tums during healing because of the high calcium content of Tums.
 
thanks....something like Tums makes good sense. I'll double check with my doc about other related concerns.
 

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